Ryobi 450W RPT4545M

I have only left one star because it won't allow me to choose none. This was only used twice on 4mm privet before in blew the motor and burst the casing. not fit for purpose, a weak, flimsy piece of machinery. i will never buy a Ryobi tool ever again and advise anyone thinking of buying Ryobi to think again and avoid them at all costs as they are very poor quality.

I've used it on a variety of mature NZ natives, ranging from frondy to pretty woody and it works as intended. The 17mm cutting capacity is not something I'd contemplate, even 10mm is quite ambitious depending on the wood type, but i don't think hedge trimmers should be used as chainsaws so that's no slight on the device. I find it to be powerful enough and the articulating head works very well.
The only disadvantage with this tool is the weight of the motor/cutting head which means you need to be reasonably strong to wield it for several hou...

This is ok if you have a long reach or long arms.
I find that extending the poles to get full range is too hard to use as it becomes top heavy and becomes awkward to use.
Also found that when fully extended that you need to take care when lowering as mine snapped at the tightening point as I started to undo the unit because I didn't have it laid completely flat.
This is still very handy to have as the blade is quite long and just means that I still need to use the ladder to get the higher spots.

Worked very well for a few uses and then the blades stopped reciprocating. I clean and inspect all my trimmers and tools after use and there didn't seem to be any other issues. Blades looked good and still relatively sharp. All trimmings were less than 5mm thick. Wouldn't buy another of this type.

I purchased one of these to replace my old Ozito pole trimmer thinking that the Ryobi would be a better quality product. I used it for two days and then no power. I returned it to Bunnings and replaced it with another Ozito which let me finish of the job.
As a comparison between the two hedgers the Ozito is clearly better. It's 900watt as opposed to 450W in the Ryobi. The motor is in the handle not at the head of the edger giving it better balance. The Ryobi has an extension that takes the length to 2.6 mts which is totally useless as the weig...

With a lot of 2-3m high hedging, the task is usually done by a professional who then leaves the the smaller 1.5m hedges around the house for us to tackle. However, with garden beds in the way, these hedges are really awkward to reach without stumbling over agapanthus or trying to balance a ladder across uneven ground.

When the last conventional electric hedge trimmer failed, we contemplated getting a cheap pole trimmer, but were concerned about the weight, which according to the professionals, appears to double every 30 minutes of use! The O...